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Coronavirus affects all sectors: commercial, social and even the health sector itself …
At least 5,000 cases of cancer have gone under the radar since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in Belgium, which has forced the reorganization of the country’s health services since March, reported Friday by the Cancer Foundation. The trend is now to recover, with 14% fewer diagnoses up to mid-September than last year, versus 44% in April, during the first wave.
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The lack of a diagnosis does not mean that there are fewer cases of cancer, but that the diagnosis will be made later and that treatment will begin at a later stage of the disease. This results in a more aggressive treatment risk, not to mention the less favorable prognosis. That is why the Cancer Foundation would like to remind you of the need to see a doctor in case of persistent warning signs. “The fear of contracting the virus has led to the risk of not being screened and / or not receiving treatment, which, depending on the type of cancer, can lead to sometimes very serious consequences”, warns the organization.
Older people most affected
The drop in diagnoses remains more significant (18%) for those over 80. It is about 12% among those between 65 and 79 and about 16% between 50 and 64 years. The difference is smaller for the age groups under 50: between 35 and 49 it is a decrease of 9% and between 20 and 34 it is 5%. The impact is greatest for skin cancer, with more than 20% decrease in diagnoses, followed by bladder and kidney cancer, in similar proportions. For head and neck cancer, it is 19% and for prostate cancer, 15%. The decrease is less pronounced for other more aggressive cancers, most notably lung cancer (10%), pancreatic cancer (9%), and esophageal cancer (9%). Breast cancer shows a decrease of less than 14% for all ages and 20% for the target population for screening (50-69 years).
By Belgian
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